Bath Time
by rubykateweasley
Summary: Molly gives the three year old twins a bath while attempting to keep an eye on her other children. Written for the Wet!Weasley Challenge at http://www.checkmated.com


Title: Bath Time

Author: Kitty-Rose (seraphimoftheskies@hotmail.com)

Pairing: None

Rating: G

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, they all belong to J.K Rowling.

A/N: Thanks to Jo for beta'ing. This fic is a response to the Wet!Weasley challenge at www. checkmated .com

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The water was rising steadily, swirling lazily around the edge of the bath as Molly Weasley used her hand to mix the hot water from the tap with the cold water in the bath. She tipped the last of the bubble bath for good measure, and turned to check on the three year old twins who were undressing slowly, having come with the idea that they could try undoing each other's buttons. They never did want to do things the conventional way, Molly thought, affectionately, always thinking of some short cut that invariably took even longer. 

As Fred, grinning proudly, managed to crawl out of his clothes, Molly handed him the empty bubble bath bottle to play with. George was unclothed a moment later, and without waiting for the water to fill up, they both clambered into the bath impatiently. The water wasn't really hot enough, Molly considered, checking it with her hand, but they seemed quite happy, scooping up the bubbles with their hands. She picked up their clothes from the bathroom floor, as the boys were already beginning to splash water everywhere, and folded them neatly, to put out of harm's way.

She sat down on the chair she'd dragged into the bathroom, and pulled Bill's socks out of her pocket. Now there was a boy who only had to look at something, to be in a dreadful mess, covered in stains and bruises underneath ripped clothes. As she darned the socks, she kept a watchful eye on the twins, who were certainly enjoying themselves with the bubbles. 

They were always so cheerful, Molly mused to herself, always laughing with one another. She wasn't sure that she'd ever really seen them cry once they'd stopped being babies. Even if George fell over, Fred would pull him up and they'd keep on going together, that same resourceful grin on their faces, as if nothing had happened. And if Fred's elaborate plan to reach the kitchen cupboards failed, George would have already thought of another plan before Fred could admit defeat. Not that they would probably ever even think of admitting defeat about anything, Molly considered.

"George," Molly told him, seeing that the water was reaching a high level. "Turn the tap off now, will you?"

George was always the careful one, and he was reaching around to the tap before she'd even finished her sentence. Fred meanwhile, was filling the plastic bubble bath bottle, giggling at the bubbling noises and then tipped it over George as he turned round. The two of them cackled together – identical infectious laughter – and water splashed all over the floor.

"Careful boys," warned Molly, but she found it hard not to smile at them. In a few years, she was sure she'd find it harder to smile. Once they were old enough to reach high shelves and work out slightly more complicated plans, and Merlin forbid, once they actually got wands, they were going to be more than a handful. It was already awkward looking after six children, although it was certainly worth it, she told herself. And here she was, about to issue another into the world.

She smiled down at her round belly, fondly. She'd been thinking about names for months, and had become quite taken with Virginia. She hadn't asked Arthur yet, of course, but she was sure he'd be alright with it. After all six boys, it'd be nice to have a girl, and she was certain that's what this baby would be. She had had vague hopes of Ron being a girl, but even then she'd knew he'd be a boy. As she thought of Ron, she leaned back in her chair to look across the landing and through the open door of the cramped nursery. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, curled up in his cot. The cot, and the nursery, would have to be very shortly passed on to the new baby, and Ron would have to move to… Percy's room, Molly supposed. The twins already shared a room, and Bill and Charlie shared the attic bedroom. Only neat, quiet, Percy had a room to himself.

Little Virginia was going to work out quite expensive. She'd need dresses, and girl's toys. The ancient clothes and toys that had been passed down from Bill, to Charlie, to Percy, to the twins, and now Ron, weren't going to be right for a girl. Molly wanted to retain some feminine qualities to her only daughter, who was no doubt going to be encouraged towards a tomboy direction with so many brothers. She picked up another sock. Charlie's this time, although from the looks of it, it had been borrowed by Bill.

There was a series of loud bangs on the stairs, and five year old Percy appeared in the landing, breathless and being followed by Charlie and Bill, a sulky look on both their faces.

"Mum!" Percy whined, heading for the safety of the bathroom. A wail arose from the nursery, and Charlie and Bill looked at one another and rolled their eyes.

"Now look what you've done," Molly scolded, letting Percy come and cuddle her around her swollen middle, and looking at her oldest sons pointedly.

Bill, who was fourteen and so prone to sulks, sighed heavily and disappeared into the nursery to try and stop the screaming, and escape his mother's lectures. Molly continued to look at Charlie, waiting for an explanation as to why exactly they had all come tearing up the stairs and why Percy was sniffing quietly to himself.

"We were just practising Quidditch outside," Charlie argued. Only a year younger than Bill, and seven years older than his next nearest brother, he tended to copy his elder brother's world weary attitude. "And then Percy got upset for no reason, and ran inside and we followed him because we didn't want him to disturb you or Ron." He broke into an accidental grin at the end of this, rather proud of his reasoning.

"I'm not surprised he got upset," said Molly firmly, as she stroked her rather pale delicate son's hair comfortingly. "You know he doesn't like that kind of thing."

"But we needed a Keeper," Charlie insisted, but fell silent on seeing his mother's look.

"It's because he's a freak," Bill muttered darkly, reappearing in the landing. Ron was still crying, Bill's attempts to pacify him having not worked in the slightest. 

"Percy, dear," Molly pretended not to have heard Bill, as she didn't think Percy had, "why don't you go and see to Ron?"

Percy scuttled off to the nursery, avoiding Bill's gaze on the way. Percy could always be trusted to be quiet and peaceful, Molly considered, satisfied as she heard the screaming tail off into a gurgle. Percy was so careful and gentle, unlike Bill's stamping forceful ways. "As for you two," she said, "I don't think I've seen you even touch your summer homework."

Bill and Charlie knew better than to protest when so near the temperamental baby, and so they sulkily crept downstairs. Molly knew that they weren't heading for their textbooks at all, and were probably half way down the garden by now, but she didn't mind. As long as they were out of trouble. Bill would grow out of his teenage moodswings, and as Percy and the twins grew up, Charlie would feel less of a need to prove to Bill he wasn't a baby like the others. 

She turned her attention back to the twins in the bath, who were having a competition to see who could hold his breath the longest under the water.

"Now, you two," Molly said, firmly, and pulled them back up. "Time to wash your hair."

Fred giggled mercilessly as his brother was pushed about by Molly, who was scrubbing at his hair and working up a lather that dripped down George's rather gloomy looking face. Fred took pity on him, and reached over to rub it out of his brother's eyes, knowing the favour would be returned, but his already bubble-covered hands only made matters worse. George began to wail, and Fred thrust a soapy flannel towards him, only getting the bubbles up his twin's nose.

"Fred, I can manage," his mother told him, and pushed him gently towards the other end of the bath. She managed to subdue George's cries before he set Ron off again, and then set upon washing Fred's hair while George mournfully tipped the bottle full of water over his head, trying to rinse all the suds out that he was sure were all over his hair.

When she had finally dealt with Fred, (who had spent the entire time trying to have his hands over his eyes, mouth, and ears, but quickly ran out of fingers) she coaxed them out of the bath with promises of sweeties. The twins came reluctantly. Secretly, they were fed up with the bath anyway, with the nasty stingy soap and the way it had made their fingers go wrinkly, but they knew that if they went slowly, they'd get some kind of reward to hurry them up. George had suggested this idea only a few hours earlier, but he was already being proved right.

Wrapped in towels, the twins shivered and chattered their teeth loudly, running across the landing to their bedroom and their pyjamas. Soon Molly would come in with the sweets she'd promised, and then they would have to go back into the bathroom to brush their teeth before their bedtime story. The brushing of teeth was the worst bit, George would often lament, but they knew the story would be worth the wait. 

Molly peeped into the nursery on her way downstairs to find the sweets. It seemed unnaturally quiet.

"Oh, don't start crying again," Percy insisted, as Ron began to make noises. To Percy's relief, his younger brother was just experimenting with his tongue, and he turned back to his chess board that he had balanced on the dresser. 

"This is the only place where it's quiet," Percy continued, in a slightly injured tone. "So if you start crying I'll have nowhere to play."

Ron obediently remained quiet, watching the grubby chess pieces in Percy's hands. Being as Percy had nobody to play with, and that he didn't entirely understand the rules, the game was rather a dull one, but Ron evidently didn't think so. He reached out curiously to the nearest rook, but it was beyond his reach and Percy wasn't paying him any attention. 

Molly smiled to herself and slipped away, leaving the two with their chess. It would do Ron good to have something interesting to look at for a change – she didn't get to spend as much time with him as she'd like, what with Fred and George being at a demanding age, and having Bill and Charlie to contend with. 

As Molly crossed the landing, she was vaguely aware that there was still water all over the bathroom floor. But more importantly, she suspected, she'd have two very wet boys in their bedroom, as they had probably discarded their towels without making any attempt to drying themselves and leapt straight into their nice warm beds, which probably weren't warm any longer and rather damp instead. It was what they always did, she smiled to herself, but somehow, she didn't mind.

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A/N2 I'm getting some reviews asking questions about ages, and Ginny's name, so quickly…. I got the ages from the Harry Potter Lexicon () and they seem pretty right to me. I was a bit surprised by the big age jump from Charlie to Percy too, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Also – Ginny's name. We don't know what it's short for, I've just presumed Virginia. No reason in particular. Somebody commented it's an American name, because of the state – well, the Europeans (I don't know if it was the British, or whoever, but definitely European) named the state so it's probably alright. I'm British and there are people here called Virginia. I'm going with it anyway.


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